1826 in rail transport explained

Events

March events

• March 4 – Gridley Bryant's Granite Railway is incorporated.^{[1] [2]}

April events

• April 1 – Construction begins in Massachusetts on the Granite Railway, one of the first railroads in North America, under the direction of Gridley Bryant.
• April 17 – The Mohawk and Hudson Railroad is chartered to build a railroad between Albany and Schenectady, the first in New York State.

May events

• May 5 – Liverpool and Manchester Railway, designed by George Stephenson and Joseph Locke, and which in 1830 is to become the world's first purpose-built passenger railway operated by steam locomotives to be opened, is authorised by the Parliament of the United Kingdom.^[3]
• May 26 – Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway in Scotland is authorised by the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

October events

• October 1 – Opening of the Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway in Scotland.^[4]
• October 7 – The first train operates over the Granite Railway in Massachusetts.

Births

January births

• January 2 – Algernon S. Buford, president of the Richmond and Danville Railroad (d. 1911).

March births

• March 4 – Theodore Judah, American engineer who argued the case for construction of the First transcontinental railroad (d. 1863).

April births

• April 3 – Cyrus K. Holliday, cofounder of Topeka, Kansas, and first president of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad (d. 1900).^[5]

November births

• November 10 – Oden Bowie, the 34th Governor of the State of Maryland in the United States from 1869 to 1872,^[6] founder and first President of the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad^{[7] [8]} and also president of the Baltimore City Passenger Railway.^[7]

December births

• December 1 – William Mahone, American civil engineer and Confederate Army Major General who built the Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad, a predecessor of the Norfolk and Western (d. 1895).

Unknown date births

• John P. Laird, Scottish engineer, designer and patentee of the two-wheel equalized leading truck for steam locomotives (d. 1882).

Deaths

February deaths

• February 20 – Matthew Murray, English steam engine manufacturer (b. 1765).^[9]

Notes and References

1. Encyclopedia: Granite Railway. Britannica Online Encyclopedia. 2008-05-19.
2. Web site: The First Railroad in America. Granite City B.P.O.E. – Quincy Lodge No. 943. Catskill Archive. 1924. 2008-05-19.
3. Book: Carlson, Robert E.. The Liverpool & Manchester Railway Project 1821–1831. David & Charles. Newton Abbot. 1969. 0-7153-4646-6.
4. Book: Awdry, Christopher. 1990. Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies. Patrick Stephens Ltd.. Wellingborough. 1-85260-049-7.
5. Book: Waters, Lawrence Leslie. 1950. Steel Trails to Santa Fe. University of Kansas Press. Lawrence, Kansas.
6. Book: Hall , Clayton Colman . Baltimore: Its History and Its People, vol.3 . Lewis Historical Publishing Co. . 1912 . 304–306 .
7. Book: Hollander , Jacob Harry . The Financial History of Baltimore . AMS Press . 1982 . 978-0-404-61368-6 . 280.
8. Book: Wilson , William Bender . History of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company: With Plan of Organization . Henry T. Coates & Company . 1895 . 333–334.
9. Book: Chrimes, Mike. Skempton. A. W.. Chrimes. M M.. Cox. R. C.. Cross-Rudkin. P. S. M.. Rennison. R. W.. Ruddock. E. C.. Murray, Matthew. A Biographical Dictionary of Civil Engineers. 1. 2002. 461–462. London. Thomas Telford on behalf of the Institution of Civil Engineers. 0-7277-2939-X.